South America is a wonderful destination, a land with ancient history and amazing landscapes. For the European eye it also contains a quota of exoticism. The Amazon, Peru and its ruins, Ecuador and its mountains, Argentina and its glaciers or Bolivia and its own wonders among which we stand out today the Salar de Uyuni .
This salt flat is the largest and highest altitude salt desert in the whole world. It’s huge, it’s in Bolivia, and today, that everything revolves around the blessed lithium of the batteries of all our electronics, is also in the eye of the technology industry. Let’s get to know him.
Bolivia
The Plurinational State of Bolivia has as its capital Sucre , but the seat of the executive, electoral and legislative power is its other important city, La Paz . It has a border with Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile and Peru and you probably heard in the latest news that there was a coup d’état because the results of the elections were not recognized. Its last constitutional president and great transformer of the country was Evo Morales.
Bolivia has many archaeological treasures, thousands, such as Tiwanaku, for example, or Samaipatto. Many are in the Andes, others are in a better or worse state of conservation, but we all talk about a region that was long ago very active and important for civilization.
The Salt Flats of Uyuni
Despite its archaeological treasures one cannot miss the opportunity to visit one of the best natural landscapes in the world: the vast salt flat of Uyuni. As we said in the presentation is the largest and tallest desert in the world.
El Salar de Uyuni has 10,582 square kilometers of surface and is 3650 meters of altitude in the southwest region of the country, in the province of Daniel campos, Potosí department. About 40 thousand years ago in this part of the Bolivian territory was Lake Minchin and about 11 thousand years ago Lake Tauka. By then the weather was another, not arid and dry, and it was constantly raining.
Then there would come a period of warm and dry climate that caused the great Andean lakes to shrink resulting in the formation of salt flats such as Uyuni or Coipasa. The lakes became salt flats or smaller lagoons, such as the current Uru Uru or Poopó lakes.
How much salt does the Salar de Uyuni have? Good question. It is estimated that about 10 billion tons of salt. There are about eleven layers of salt of varying thickness, between one and ten meters. The top crust is the one with ten meters. The total depth of the salar is estimated to be 120 meters, between brine and clay layers.
00Every year some 25,000 tons are extracted, but as we said above herewhat will matter someday is not so much salt but lithium . Lithium, which is present here in the brine along with magnesium, potassium, sodium sulfates and boron, is the main component of batteries that use all our electronic devices so global reserves are super important. My advice? The news of the Bolivian events must be read in this key. The United States believes that Bolivia has the largest lithium reserve in the world.
While they reflect on this fact that is extremely important to understand Bolivian politics I continue with more information about this spectacular site which, in addition to this radical importance, is a great tourist destination. Why? Well, any of the photographs that adorn this post is a good proof: the white background, the blue sky, the best pictures.
In addition, salar is also the breeding place for three spices of American flamingos, Andean flamenco, James and Chilean flamingos. So everything is conjugated to make it a destination with a lot of magnet. Thus, around 300,000 tourists arrive every year and last year, 2019, won the World Travel Awards award as the Best Tourist Attraction in South America .
Visit Uyuni Salt Flats
When is the best time of year to visit? In November you can also take good pictures to see the flamingos in full breeding. Then, any time is good although everything has its pros and cons.
There are two seasons, the rainy season that is in the South American summer from December to March; and thedry season that is between May and October, winter. The first is when salt water accumulates on the surface and then a wonderful giant mirror appears that seems to merge with the skies. In the second, the dry season, the mirror is not formed but there is better weather.
If you are in the north of Argentina or live there the visit is super accessible. In fact many northern Argentines visit it once in their life because it means a simple drive from provinces such as Tucumán, Jujuy or Salta. If you’re in Bolivia visiting other things it’s easy to get there too. There are many excursions and although many go on their own if you come from afar sure you should book a day tour.
There is very little signage and arriving in your own car if you don’t know can make you complicated. There are day trips if you don’t have timeor up to three daysto visit the nearby lagoons, hot springs or geisers. What can not be missing in your backpack is sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, water, cash to go to the bathroom, shower if the trip is long or pay tickets.
If you are in Argentina the best thing to cross is to do it in La Quiaca, Jujuy province, towards Villazón, in Bolivia. There you take a train and in nine hours you’re at the destination. Or you can take a bus and put up with the bad condition of the route. If you come from another country then you can arrive by plane to La Paz and then take another plane Haca Uyuni, there are flights every day, or a tourist night bus that takes about 10 hours or rent a car or take the train to Oruro and from there the train to Uyuni.
